Improvement in steaming and shucking oysters



PATENTED DEC. 22, 1863'.

v I. SOLOMON. STEAMING' AND SHUOKING OYSTERS.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC SOLOMON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,026, dated December 22, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC SOLOMON, of the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Combined Oyster-Steamerand Shncking-Box; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full and correct description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my apparatus complete. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the center of the same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section.

The same part is marked by the same letter of reference wherever .it occurs.

This invention is an improvement on the oyster-{steaming apparatusheretofore patented by me and has been suggested by experience with til nomical mode, of steaming oysters for the wholesale packing trade.

Itconsists in such a construction and arrangement of the apparatus that the same chamber in which the steaming is performed will, when the steaming is completed, answer as a sh uckin g-box, from which the oysters can, without being removed in bulk, be shucked ready for use, thus saving the time, labor, and expense of shoveling them into baskets, and of removing them, in those baskets from the steaming-chamber to the shucking-box, as has heretofore been the practice, and dispensing entirely with the use of baskets, and saving a large item of expense in their prime cost and wear.

To enable others to make and use my new and improved apparatus, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the drawings herewith, whereon- A marks the legs of the apparatus; B, the shucking-box or steaming-chamber; O, the lid or cover of said box, which is attached to it by the hinges a in such a way that it can be turned over and hang down by the side of the box in the manner represented in Fig. 3.

The edges of this cover are provided with strips of felt b, which make its junction with the box steam-tight. p I

D marks the inlet steam-pipe, which conducts steam from the boiler 'to the steaminga t apparatus as a more simple and ecochamber. It has a valve, E, by which the steam can be shut off or turned on at will.

The pipe D communicates with two perfo- .ter the steaming. of the oysters is completed.

M and N are air-valves in. the front of the steaming chamber, which can be opened orclosed at pleasure, so as to exclude or admit air to the chamber. p

0 marks stirrups or staples hinged to the front of the box. They hold the cover 0 down into close contact with the box by passing over the bolts Q, projecting from the cover, and having the? wedges P driven in between them. (See Fig. 1.)

R is a cock for drawing oil the oyster-liquor from the bottom of the chamber, and S a plug closing'a hole through which the washings are drawn on when the box is cleansed.

The operatien is as follows: The oysters to be steamed are placed on the grating H, and

.the cover 0 closed and secured. The valves K L M-N are closed and the valve E opened to allow steam to flow into the chamber.

When the oysters are sufflcientlycookedtlie steam is shut ofi and the valves K L M N are opened. The cold air rushes into the chamher through valves M and N and .drivesout the steam, which escapes through pipes I and J. The cover 0 is then unkeyed and turned over into the position shown in Fig. 3.by the side of the steam chamber, which then be comes a convenient shueking-box, by the side of which the men may stand and open the oysters. v

The building can easily be so arranged that. the oysters can be unloaded directly from the; carts into the steaming-chamber, and the oystar-shells thrown out as fast as the oysters are taken from them and carted away.

Having thus fully described my invention,-

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters box B, constructed; arranged, and operating substantially in the manner hereiubefore described.

The above specification of my said invention signed and witnessed at Washington this 17 th day of November, A. D. 1863.

ISAAC SOLOMON. Witnesses:

Urns. F. STANsBUnY, JOHN P. HAMLIN. 

